Open Primaries

Friday, March 04, 2011

Another Blow to Indies as Massachusetts Independent Redistricting Goes Down

The losses continue for Independents as the Democrats in Massachusetts vote down a proposal for an independent redistricting commission. This ruling comes in the wake of the removal of open primary voting in Idaho by a federal judge.

Mass. Redistricting panel rejected - Democrats vote down GOP plan (By John J. Monahan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE) House Democrats today killed a GOP proposal for an independent redistricting commission to redraw state and federal legislative district boundaries in advance of the 2012 elections, sticking to earlier plans to have a committee of state legislators produce the new redistricting maps.

Independent Redistricting Commission off to a rocky start (By Barbara McCullough-Jones, Arizona Progress) According to a recent article by Jason R. Jurjevich and Michael Burnham 33 states allow their Legislatures to draw district lines while the rest, like Arizona, utilize an independent redistricting model.

Former N.Y.C. Mayor Ed Koch sets sights on Senate GOP (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) Redistricting, done every 10 years after the census, is the highly charged political process that sets district boundaries, and has the potential to seal the fate of a political party's power for a decade. State legislative races are rarely competitive, in part because districts tend to contain an overwhelming number of voters in one party.

Capps: ‘I’m Running’ (by JERRY ROBERTS, Santa Barbara Independent) The unusually early maneuvering by Capps, reelected just four months ago, and by Maldonado, a longtime GOP fixture who was beaten out for Lieutenant Governor by Democrat Gavin Newsom last November, reflects a dramatically new political dynamic confronting all California candidates. For the first time, an independent citizen’s commission is in charge of the every-10-years task of redrawing the maps for congressional and legislative districts, based on the 2010 Census; simultaneously, the state’s election rules have substantially changed after voters approved a ballot initiative last June aimed at boosting the chances of moderate candidates in primary races, dominated in recent years by members of the right and left wings of the two major parties who’ve been able to run in gerrymandered districts.